Trump revives criticism over fires ahead of California visit

63 people are now known dead in the Northern California wildfire, while the number of unaccounted for has gone higher than 600. The number of homes and structures destroyed is more than 9,000. (Nov. 16)
AP

CHICO - President Donald Trump on Saturday is expected to get a look at the grief and damage caused by the Camp Fire, deadliest U.S. wildfire in a century. But he could face resentment from locals for blaming the inferno on poor forest management in California.

Trump said in an interview recorded Friday and scheduled for broadcast on "Fox News Sunday" that he was surprised to see images of firefighters removing dried brush near a fire, adding, "This should have been all raked out."

The White House hasn't disclosed whether Trump plans to visit hard-hit Ventura and Los Angeles counties when he comes to California on Saturday.

But he will visit portions of Northern California dealing with the Camp Fire — a former Gold Rush region in the Sierra Nevada foothills that is to some extent Trump country; he beat Hillary Clinton in Butte County by 4 percentage points in 2016.

But some survivors resent that Trump took to Twitter two days after the disaster to blame the wildfires on poor forest mismanagement. He threatened to withhold federal payments from California.

"If you insult people, then you go visit them, how do you think you're going to be accepted? You're not going to have a parade," Maggie Crowder of Magalia said Thursday outside an informal shelter at a Walmart parking lot in Chico.

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Daniel Cayer saved his 1929 Ford Roadster from the Camp Fire by hitching it to his 1963 Chevy pickup and racing it out of danger.
USA TODAY

But Stacy Lazzarino, who voted for Trump, said it would be good for the president to see the devastation up close: "I think by maybe seeing it he's going to be like 'Oh, my goodness,' and it might start opening people's eyes."

In his Fox News interview on the eve of his visit, the president repeated his criticism. Asked if he thought climate change contributed to the fires, he said, "Maybe it contributes a little bit. The big problem we have is management."

Nick Shawkey, a captain with the state fire agency, said the president's tweet blaming poor forest management was based on a "misunderstanding." The federal government manages 46 percent of land in California.

California's outgoing and incoming governors said they would join Trump on Saturday.

Democrats Gov. Jerry Brown and Gov.-elect Gavin Newsom said they welcomed the president's visit and "now is a time to pull together for the people of California." Brown and Newsom have been vocal critics of Trump.

There were also worries the presidential visit would be disruptive.

"It's already a zoo here, and I don't care who the president is. He needs to wait because the traffic's already horrendous," said Charlotte Harkness, whose home in Paradise burned down. "He could just tweet something nice — three words: 'I am sorry,' and that's fine."